In a waste water treatment system of the type commonly used for domestic dwellings and other limited volume waste water sources, waste water is flowed first into a buried septic tank where it is acted upon by microorganisms in an anaerobic environment. Waste water effluent from the septic tank is typically flowed into a secondary treatment system element, so it can be acted upon by other microorganisms in an aerobic environment. It is thereby made relatively environmentally benign, so it can flow to ground water or surface water. Most commonly, the waste water will be flowed into a leach field for treatment. A leach field is comprised of one or more lengths of conduit which are buried beneath the surface of the earth. Traditional types of leach fields are comprised of a perforated pipe, or a series of concrete galleries, buried in a stone or gravel filled trench, and overlaid by soil. Less common and less preferred is a leach pit. More recently, leach fields are comprised of arch shaped plastic chamber conduits. As mentioned in the following Description, there are many other kinds of leach field conduits.
The soil adjacent the conduit comprises a region called the influence zone, where waste water from the conduit is biochemically acted upon. Water thereafter flows sideways and mostly downwardly toward the water table of the local earth, and to a certain degree upwardly, in part due to transpiration and plant uptake.
The present invention is generally applicable to situations where the leach field is incapable of accepting or of sufficiently treating the quantity of waste water delivered to it. In common modes of leach field failure, insufficiently treated waste water percolates to the surface of the soil; or it flows from the earth at the side of a slope; or it flows with insufficient treatment into ground water; or the waste water system fails to accept further waste water and it “backs up” at the source. Failure is commonly ascertained visually, by odor, or by a water test that too many pollutants and bacterial contamination.
In a prior invention, referred to in more detail below, air is caused to flow through a leach field, in particular the influence zone, and the result is an increase in the effectiveness of the waste water system of which it is a part. However, it is not uncommon that a failure of a leach field is gross in the sense that waste water from below has appeared on the soil surface, and that there is a refusal of the system to accept normal flow of waste water. For such situations, there would be a benefit in making the prior invention quicker and easier to apply.